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Jim Belushi
| birth_place = Chicago, Illinois, U.S. | death_date = | residence = Brentwood, Los Angeles, California, U.S. | other_names = James Belushi, "The Belush", Zee Blues | alma_mater = Southern Illinois University | occupation = Actor, voice actor, comedian, singer, musician | years_active = 1977–present | spouse = | children = 3; including Robert Belushi | relations = John Belushi (brother) Billy Belushi (brother) Marian Belushi Miles (sister) | website = }} James Adam Belushi ( ; born June 15, 1954) is an American actor, voice actor, comedian, singer and musician. He is the younger brother of late comic actor John Belushi and the father of actor Robert Belushi. He played the role of Jim on the sitcom According to Jim (2001–2009). His other television roles include Saturday Night Live (1983–1985), Wild Palms (1993), Aaahh!!! Real Monsters (1994–1997), Show Me a Hero (2015) and Twin Peaks (2017). Belushi has appeared in films such as Thief (1981), Trading Places (1983), About Last Night (1986), Salvador (1986), Red Heat (1988), K-9 (1989), Mr. Destiny (1990), Curly Sue (1991), Jingle All the Way (1996), Underdog (2007) and The Ghost Writer (2010). Early life Belushi was born in Chicago, to Adam Anastos Belushi, an Albanian from the city of Korçë, in Albania, and Agnes Demetri (Samaras) Belushi, who was the daughter of Albanians from Korçë. He was raised in Wheaton, a Chicago suburb, along with his three siblings: older brother John, older sister Marian, and younger brother Billy. After graduating from Wheaton Central High School, Jim Belushi attended the College of DuPage and graduated from Southern Illinois University Carbondale with a degree in Speech and Theater Arts. Career From 1977 to 1980, Belushi, like his older brother John Belushi, worked with the Chicago theater group The Second City. During this period, Belushi made his television debut in 1978's Who's Watching the Kids and also had a small part in Brian De Palma's The Fury. His first significant role was in Michael Mann's Thief (1981). After his elder brother John's death, from 1983 to 1985 he appeared on Saturday Night Live; he portrayed characters such as Hank Rippy from "Hello, Trudy!" and "That White Guy". Belushi also appeared in the film Trading Places as a drunk man in a gorilla suit during a New Year's Eve party. He made a guest appearance in Faerie Tale Theatre's third-season episode Pinocchio, starring Paul Reubens as the titular puppet. Belushi rose to greater prominence with his supporting roles in The Man with One Red Shoe (1985), About Last Night..., Salvador and Little Shop of Horrors (as Patrick Martin) (all 1986), which opened up opportunities for lead roles. He has starred in films including Real Men, The Principal, Red Heat, Homer and Eddie, K-9, Dimenticare Palermo, Taking Care of Business, Mr. Destiny, Only the Lonely, Curly Sue, Once Upon A Crime, Wild Palms, Royce, Race the Sun, Jingle All The Way, Separate Lives, Retroactive, Gang Related, Angel's Dance and Joe Somebody (2001). His voice work includes The Mighty Ducks, The Pebble and the Penguin, Babes in Toy land, Gargoyles and Hey Arnold!, and the more recent Hoodwinked, Scooby-Doo! and the Goblin King and The Wild. He also lent his vocal talents for 9: The Last Resort (a PC game released in 1995), in which he portrayed "Salty", a coarse yet helpful character. In 1997, he portrayed the "Masked Mutant" in the Goosebumps PC video game, alongside Adam West as "The Galloping Gazelle". On January 4, 2001, Belushi appeared on the ER episode "Piece of Mind". The episode focused on both Dr. Mark Greene's life-or-death brain surgery in New York and Belushi's character, who had been in a car accident with his son in Chicago. Belushi's performance contributed to his re-emergence in the public eye, and the following year he was cast as the title role in ABC's According to Jim. His first animation voice-over was as a pimple on Krum's head in Aaahh!!! Real Monsters on Nickelodeon. That performance led him to be cast in the continuing role as Simon the Monster Hunter in that series, where he ad-libbed much of his own dialogue. In 2003, Belushi and Dan Aykroyd released the album Have Love, Will Travel, and participated in an accompanying tour. The concert was made available on video on demand by Bob Gold & Associates. He also performs at various venues nationwide as Zee Blues in an updated version of The Blues Brothers. He released his first book, Real Men Don't Apologize, in May 2006. Belushi was a narrator of an NFL offensive linemen commercial. Belushi also introduced the starting lineups for the University of Illinois football team during ABC's telecast of the 2008 Rose Bowl. He appeared in MC Hammer's video "Too Legit to Quit" in 1991 (in the extended full-length version). He also hosted a celebration rally for the Chicago Cubs playoff series in Chicago prior to the 2008 World Series. Steve Dahl has dubbed him "The Funniest Living Belushi." In 2010, Belushi was cast in a pilot for CBS called The Defenders a series about defense lawyers. The one-hour series premiered on September 22, 2010. In two episodes in 2011, Belushi was paired with Blues Brothers partner Dan Aykroyd. On May 15, 2011, The Defenders was canceled by CBS. In 2011, he was cast as corrupt businessman Harry Brock in Born Yesterday, which opened on Broadway in late April. Personal life Belushi has been married three times; He married Sandra Davenport on May 17, 1980, and the couple had a son, Robert James (also an actor, born October 23, 1980), they divorced in 1988. Belushi was married to actress Marjorie Bransfield from 1990 to 1992. He has been married to Jennifer Sloan since May 2, 1998, the couple have a daughter, Jamison Bess (born July 28, 1999) and a son, Jared James (born February 8, 2002). On March 5, 2018, Jennifer Sloan filed for divorce from Belushi. Belushi is closely linked to his Albanian heritage and received honorary Albanian citizenship from the President of Albania, Bamir Topi. Belushi is an avid fan of the Chicago Blackhawks, Chicago Bears, Chicago Cubs, Chicago Bulls and the Chicago Fire. He had a legal battle and publicized feud with his neighbor, actress Julie Newmar. She claimed their conflicts stemmed from Belushi's attempt to "build a second house in the back", which she claimed was illegal in their R-1 neighborhood, since there can be only one house per lot. In 2004, Belushi filed a $4 million lawsuit against Newmar, alleging "she has harassed and defamed him". He also claimed she destroyed his fence, which Newmar denied.$4 million They ended the feud in 2006 and Belushi invited Newmar to guest-star on According to Jim on an episode which satirized their conflict. In 2011, Belushi announced that he suffered from gout, and became a spokesman for Savient Pharmaceuticals' educational campaign "Check Out Your Gout". He has also appeared on the cover of and been interviewed by Cigar Aficionado magazine.Rhodes, Joe (March 1, 1994). "Jim Belushi's Big Year". Cigar Aficionado. Belushi endorsed the re-election campaign of Democratic President Barack Obama in 2012. On a Fox News interview, he explained "When you talk to the President in private, he's a cool guy, who knows what he's doing. Besides, I'm from Chicago too." Belushi built a holiday home in Eagle Point, Oregon in 2015Belushi's cabin on the Rogue | Mail Tribune Retrieved 2018-11-28. where he now grows cannabis.Belushi's cannabis crush | Mail Tribune Retrieved 2018-11-28. By 2018, the size of his Eagle Point property had been expanded from to . He has been involved with fundraising for projects in Eagle Point and elsewhere in Southern Oregon, including the planned rebuilding of the Butte Creek Mill and the restoration of the Holly Theatre, in Medford. In 2018, he was still living in Los Angeles "most of the time", The Oregonian reported, and living in Oregon only part of the year. Per a 2018 article, Belushi indicated he planned on opening a pop-up cannabis dispensary in downtown Portland. Filmography Film Television Video games Characters on Saturday Night Live * Hank Rippy (Hello, Trudy!) * Man on the Street Jesse Donnelly * That White Guy, a stereotypical Caucasian man who can rap Celebrity impersonations * Rosemary Clooney * Joe Cocker * Joan Collins * Bob Guccione * Hulk Hogan * Pope John Paul II * Bob Keeshan as Captain Kangaroo * Josef Mengele * Willie Nelson * Thomas Noguchi * Michael Reagan * Babe Ruth * Arnold Schwarzenegger References }} External links * * * * Category:1954 births Category:20th-century American comedians Category:21st-century American comedians Category:20th-century American male actors Category:21st-century Albanian male actors Category:21st-century American male actors Category: Actors from Wheaton, Illinois Category: American impressionists (entertainers) Category: American male comedians Category: American male film actors Category: American male television actors Category: American male voice actors Category: American people of Albanian descent Category: American sketch comedians Category: College of DuPage alumni Category: Living people Category: Male actors from Chicago Category: Male actors of Albanian descent Category: People from Brentwood, Los Angeles Category: People with acquired Albanian citizenship Category: Southern Illinois University Carbondale alumni Category: The Blues Brothers members Category: People from Eagle Point, Oregon